Various organs of the body lose, e.g., muscle function due to aging, disease, low blood flow, injury or blood vessel blockage(s). For example, the heart can become subject to heart failure. Realizing this, attempts have been made to address the issue with, e.g., electrical stimulation. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,483,749 to Leonhardt et al. (Jan. 27, 2009), the contents of which are incorporated herein by this reference, provided a method for enhancing myogenesis in a subject's injured myocardium, which method comprised identifying an injury or degeneration site in the myocardium and applying electrical stimulation to the site to enhance myogenesis. The method could be used in combination with implantation of myogenic cells into the myocardium, and the electrical stimulation could be applied before or after the implantation of myogenic cells. While good for its time, the method could be improved upon.
Prior art devices either did not produce follistatin at all or were of very high voltages (10 to 40V), which could lead to electrical disturbances in the heart tissue and which could be painful in use for applications such as treating erectile dysfunction.